Drop front cabinet having tiltable bin with adjustable tensioning and stop device

ABSTRACT

A cabinet having a bin tiltable forwardly and downwardly from the front thereof, the front of at least part of the cabinet being the front of the bin. The bin is attached to the inside faces of two opposed sidewalls of the cabinet by two hinges each of which includes a first elongated hinge plate for preattachment to the bin, two elongated arms each having on end pivotally attached to an end of the first hinge plate, the two elongated arms crossing, scissor fashion intermediate their length and being pivotally secured at spaced points to a second hinge plate having at least two elongated holes therethrough and at least an additional circular hole therethrough for securement of the hinge to the cabinet which allows adjustment of the bin with respect to the cabinet during installation. The hinge assemblies further include devices for offering a desired resistance to tilting the bin, in order to prevent unexpectedly rapid tilting thereof and for limiting tilting of the bin.

United States Patent Warren C. Church Hurt;

Calvin E. Brown, Altavista, Va. 854,929

Sept. 3, 1969 Apr. 20, 1971 The Lane Company, Inc. Altavista, Va.

[72] Inventors [2 I Appl. No. [22] Filed [45] Patented [73] Assignee[54] DROP FRONT CABINET HAVING TILTABLE BIN WITH ADJUSTABLE TENSIONINGAND STOP Primary Examiner-James T. McCall Attorney-Cushman, Darby &Cushman ABSTRACT: A cabinet having a bin tiltable forwardly anddownwardly from the front thereof, the front of at least part of thecabinet being the front of the bin. The bin is attached to the insidefaces of two opposed sidewalls of the cabinet by two hinges each ofwhich includes a first elongated hinge plate for preattachment to thebin, two elongated arms each having on end pivotally attached to an endof the first hinge plate, the two elongated arms crossing, scissorfashion intermediate their length and being pivotally secured at spacedpoints to a second hinge plate having at least two elongated holestherethrough and at least an additional circular hole therethrough forsecurement of the hinge to the cabinet which allows adjustment of thebin with respect to the cabinet during installation. The hingeassemblies further include devices for offering a desired resistance totilting the bin, in order to prevent unexpectedly rapid tilting thereofand for limiting tilting of the bin.

DROP FRONT CABINET IIIAVEWG TILTABILE BIN WITH ADJUSTABLE TENSIONING ANDSTOIP DEVICE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Cabinets having bins which tiltout from the cabinet fronts are commonly used for the storage ofphonographic records and office files for convenient access, as soiledclothes hampers and for other purposes. Generally, the cabinet frontforms the front of the bin, or is secured to the front of a separatelyconstructed bin. The bin including the front is secured in a case orcabinet in such a manner that when the front is tilted out and down, forinstance 30-90 from the vertical, what was the open top of the bin,hidden from view by the top and front of the case or cabinet, is tiltedforwardly exposing the contents of the bin for selective removal, or fordeposit of additional articles in the bin.

Even with the assembly-line production of such cabinets, using massproduction techniques such as the jig predrilling of fastener receivingopenings, precutting of boards from dimensionally stable materials suchas those comprising exterior veneers adhesively bonded under pressure toa multiple-ply core, a certain amount of difficulty can be expected inwhat is usually one of the last assembly operations, installing andhing'ng the bin to the cabinet. This final operation is of primeimportance, since no matter how well finished and handsome such acabinet is, and no matter that its individual parts are of high quality,it will not meet with consumer acceptance when the bin and cabinet frontare skewed with respect to the remainder of the cabinet. Who has notheard a variant of look how much it costs, and the door isn't even onstraight?" Additionally, a skewed bin and cabinet front can causesticking during tilting, which may become progressively worse due tostress relief of unevenly stressed hinges or warping of wooden parts.Especially where the cabinet is made of veneered wood, skewed mountingof a bin and cabinet front can result in chipping and marring of theveneer as veneered parts catch on one another during tilting of the binforwardly and rearwardly.

When heavy items such as records are stored in a tilting bin, theirweight, shifting forwardly as the bin is opened and rearwardly as thebin is closed tends to cause unexpectedly rapid tilting toward theextremes of movement of the bin. This is undesirable from a noisestandpoint and because it can result in an unstable condition in whicharticles contained in the bin are dumped therefrom onto the tloor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention seeks to overcome theproblems just outlined, by providing an improved hinge assemblyincluding an adjustable tensioning and stop device and method ofinstalling the assembly. The hinge has afirst elongated hinge plate forpreattachment to the bin, two elongated arms each having one endpivotally attached to an end of the first hinge plate, -the twoelongated arms crossing, scissor fashion intermediate their length andbeing pivotally secured at space points to a second hinge plate havingat least two elongated holes therethrough and at least an additionalcircular hole therethrough. The first hinge plates of two of the hingesare secured to opposite sides of the bin. Before the tilt-front bin isattached to the inside face wall of the cabinet, the two swinging armsof each hinge are crossed, and then two screws are placed in theelongated holes of the second hinge plate of each and attached topredrilled holes in the inside face wall of the cabinet. These twoscrews are run up loose and then the tilt-front bin is adjusted in thecabinet, for proper backward or forward fitting. When this is done, thescrews in the elongated holes are run up tight and then screws are putin the round holes of the second hinge plates and run up tight to giveextra strength and to hold it in positive position. The reason for thehinge swinging arms being crossed and having spaced connections at theplate, is when opening and closing the cabinet either empty or loaded,these hinge arms move with a counterbalanced action which distributesthe heavy load on the hinge arms at all times, making the opening andclosing of this cabinet easy, and allowing the tilt-front of the cabinetto stop at any position from closed, down to completely open at aposition.

However, it is often desired to prevent the bin from tilting down somuch as 90 and to prevent the bin from tilting rapidly when nearlyclosed and when nearly tilted out to its limit. These objects areaccomplished by providing a slide arm pivoted at one end to thebin-secured hinge plate and a slide secured to the case sidewall. Anadjustable tension fastener secures the slide arm to the slide and, byengaging an edge of the bin acts as a stop to prevent tilting of the binpast a desired extent.

The principles of the invention will be further hereinafter discussedwith reference to the drawings wherein a preferred embodiment is shown.The specifics illustrated in the drawings are intended to exemplify,rather than limit aspects of the invention as defined in the claims.

/ BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS about 50, parts being broken away toexpose hidden detail;

1 FIG. 2 is an elevation view of the left hinge assembly of FIG. 1,shown by itself in an orientation corresponding to about a 15 tilt-outof the bin;

FIG. 3 is an elevation view, on a scale intermediate that of FIGS. I and3 of the outside face of the right end of the bin and respective hinge,showing orientation of these elements when the bin is tilted to a fullyclosed condition; and

FIG. 4 is an elevation view similar to FIG. 3 but illustratingorientation of the hinge and bin end when the bin is tilted out to alimit provided by the stops;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary top plan view of the region between one end ofthe bin and the case showing the hinge assembly from above.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The cabinet 10 is, for instance,a phonographic record storage cabinet having a base 12, opposedsidewalls M, 16 and a top 18 which together define an opening 20 forreceiving a bin 22.

The bin 22 includes a pair of generally triangular sidewalls 24respectively having front edges 26, bottom edges 28, upper inclinededges 30, rear corners 32 and top comers 3d. The bin ZZfurther includesa bottom as and a front 38, which, in the instance depicted, is also thecabinet front and extends above and laterally slightly beyond theremainder of the bin.

To illustrate the scale of the FIGS., in the embodiment, the front edges26 are about 13.5 inches long, the bottom edges 28 are about l2.75inches long and the sidewalls 24 are each provided with a generallysquare cutout or opening 40 about 4 inches across located about 2.5inches above the respective bottom edge 28 and 0.875 inch back from therespective front edge 26.

Three holes 42 are predrilled through the bin sidewalls 24 about 0.6inch from each inclined edge 30 for mounting the first hinge plate M ofeach of the two preassembled hinges 46. The first hinge plates 44 aresecured to the exteriors of the respective walls 2.4, for instance viarivets 48 or nut and bolt assemblies, screws or the like secured throughthe holes 42 and through corresponding holes 50 in the first hingeplates dd.

Each hinge as first hinge plate dd extends beyond the holes M and isprovided near each end with further holes 52, 54. Each hinge do alsoincludes a second hinge plate 56, shown being generally rectangular andhaving a truncated lower front corner 58. In the embodiment shown, thisassures that the second hinge plate will not interfere with the 'rearsurface of the cabinet and bin front 3% as the bin is tilted out andback,

and further to assist assemblers in initially correctly choosing andsecuring left or right hinges to corresponding bin sidewall outsides.

Each second hinge plate 56 includes a upper and a lower horizontal rowof openings. With reference to FIG. 2, which illustrates the face of thesecond hinge plate which is presented toward the respective binsidewall, the top row of openings is shown including, from the front endthereof, a horizontally elongated opening 60, and three circularopenings 62, 64, 66. These openings are all spaced horizontally from oneanother, the opening 64 being counterbored from the face confronting theviewer of FIG. 2 and the openings 60, 62 and 66 being counterbored fromthe opposite face. Similarly, the bottom row of openings is shownincluding, from the front end thereof, two circular openings 70, 72 anda horizontally elongated opening 74. These openings are all spacedhorizontally from one another, the opening 70 being counterbored fromthe face confronting the view of FIG. 2 and the openings 72 and 74 beingcounterbored from the opposite face. Thus the horizontal slots 60 and 74are at diagonally opposite comers of the second hinge plate.

The hinges 46 each further include a first elongated arm 76 havingopenings 78, 80 formed therethrough near opposite ends thereof and asecond elongated arm 82 having openings 84, 86 formed therethrough nearopposite ends thereof. The arms 76 and 82 are pivotally secured to thefirst and second hinge plates by means such as rivets 88, 90, 92, 94.Continuing the description from the viewpoint of Flg. 2, the opening 80of the arm 76 is superimposed upon the opening 64 of the second hingeplate and a rivet 88 installed therethrough having its head received inthe counterbore of the opening 64. The opening 52 of the first hingeplate is superimposed upon the opening 78 of the arm 76 and a rivet 90installed therethrough. The opening 86 of the arm 82 is superimposedupon the opening 70 of the second hinge plate and a rivet 92 installedtherethrough, head in counterbore. The opening 54 of the first hingeplate is superimposed upon the opening 84 of the arm 82 and a rivet )4installed therethrough.

It should be noted, with reference to FIGS. 3-4, that the second hingeplate is framed by the opening 40 at all times, so that the openingsthrough the second hinge plate are accessible from within the bin.

The horizontally elongated holes 60, 74 in the second hinge platesprovide for adjustment of the bin when installing the bin in thecabinet. When variations in the machining or assembly of the bin unit orthe cabinet occur, and there is usually some variation when cabinet orbin parts are made of wood, these elongated holes allow adjustment ofalignment of the front of the bin during installation.

A plate 44 may be first attached to each of the bin outsides. Thissecurement locates all eight of the pivot points 88, 90, 92, 94 withrespect to the bin. In the preferred assembly, the bin is then hinged tothe case insides by placing screws through the slots 60, 74 andcorresponding predrilled holes in the case insides, adjusting the bin toalign it with the case, and tightening those screws. Thereafter, screwsare run into the case insides through the holes 62, 66, 72.

It should be noted that, in the construction shown, some changes ofdegree of tilting of the bin may be needed in order to fully uncover foreasy access all of the holes 60, 74, 62, 66, 72 during this assemblyoperation. Such tilting is accommodated in the construction, by soconfiguring the openings 40 that no matter how much the bin is tilted,the plate 56 remains accessible.

Prior to installment, circular holes corresponding in position to theholes 60 and 74 are drilled in the facing interior surfaces of the twosidewalls 14, 16 of the cabinet. The hinges 46 having already beensecured to the bin as aforementioned, the bin is next inserted in thecabinet and a screw is placed in each elongated opening 60, 74 andadvanced part way into the aforementioned predrilled holes in thecabinet sidewalls. The bin is then adjusted in the cabinet for properbackward forward fitting. This done, the screws in the openings 60, 74are tightened and other screws are put in each of the round holes 62,68, 72 and run up tight into the cabinet sidewalls to give extrastrength and to positively hold the hinges in the selected position.

Again referring to FIG. 2, it should be noted that between 96 and 98 thehinge arm 82 is displaced away from the viewer, in the region 100, adistance equal to about twice the thickness of the arm 82 in order toaccommodate movement of the arm 76 beside the arm 82 as the hinge movesbetween its FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 orientations. A moment's reflection willcause the realization that, since the arm 82 displaced portion 100engages the outside of the respective bin sidewall, and is displaced agreater distance than the thickness of the first hinge plate, there is aslight binding of the hinge pivot 94. This assures a desired tightnessof the hinge assembly which assists the counterbalancing action of thescissored arms 76, 82 in maintaining the bin at any angle of tiltbetween fully closed and fully open at which it is placed by the user.

At least one of the hinge assemblies is further provided with anadjustable tensioning and stop device 120. This is shown including anelongated slide arm 122 having one end thereof pivotally secured to thefirst hinge plate 44 by the aforementioned rivet 88 passing through anopening 124 therein. The slide arm 122 is provided with a longitudinallyelongated slot 126 extending along nearly the full length thereof. Thedevice further includes a slide 128 in the form of a plate 130 havingholes 131 via which it is attached to the inside of the case sidewall,for instance, using screws 132. The holes in the case sidewall foraccommodating the screws 132 may be prelocated and predrilled using ajig or template. A threaded shank 134 protrudes from the plate 130toward the bin and passes through the slot 126. A slide cover 136 isprovided against the side of the slide arm which faces the bin. Theslide cover 136 has a central opening 138 by which it is received uponthe shank 134 and a flange 140 which angles out to slide along an edgeof the slide arm to maintain the slide cover aligned with the slide arm.A coil spring 142 is received upon the shank 134 so tat its base abutsthe slide cover peripherally of the opening 138. A wing nut 144 orsimilarly adjustable securement device is received on the shank 134 toprovide adjustable compression of the coil spring 142 and thus controlresistance to tilting of the bin. Item 146 is a washer. When the bincontains a heavy load, the wing nut may be tightened to offer moreeffective resistance. Preferably, the wing nut is so adjusted that thebin will remain at any angle to which it is tilted, neither tending totilt further out, nor tending to tilt back in.

.Advantages are offered by making the assemblies 46 ,unitary. Importantamong the advantages are that assembly line workers may be moreefficiently supplied with all that is necessary to mount the bins; needfor independently mounting the bin end of the slide arm is avoided withconsequent savings in time and money and a stronger assembly is providedsince the first hinge plate 44 tends to spread out stresses acting uponthe slide arm. The latter is especially important when the slideassembly also provides a positive stop to limit tilting of the bin. Asshown in FIGS. 4 and 5, further tilting of the bin is positively stoppedby engagement of the shank 134 with the end of the elongated slot 126.

The structure described herein represents an improvement upon thatdescribed in the copending US. application of Brown, Ser. No. 668,053,filed Sept. I5, 1967. now US. Pat. No. 3,510,188.

In the preferred embodiment, the hinges are constructed, for instance,of 0. l 0 inch thick steel plate.

It should now be apparent that the dropfront cabinet having tiltable binwith adjustable tensioning and stop device as described hereinabovepossesses each of the attributes set forth in the specification underthe heading Summary of the Invention" hereinbefore. Because thedropfront cabinet having tiltable bin with adjustable tensioning andstop device of the invention can be modified to some extent withoutdeparting from the principles of the invention as they have beenoutlined and explained in this specification, the present inventionshould be understood as encompassing all such modifications as arewithin the spirit and scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. A dropfront cabinet having dropfront and a tilting bin secured to therear face of said cabinet front so as to move therewith; said cabinetincluding opposed sidewalls defining a bin receiving opening betweenthem, said bin having opposed sidewalls, said bin being received in saidopening and being hinged to said both sidewalls by two hinges, onemounted on each of the bin opposed sidewalls; each of said hingecomprising: a first hinge plate having means thereon for securing thefirst hinge plate to the outside of one of said bin opposed sidewalls; asecond hinge plate having two horizontally and vertically spaced,horizontally elongated openings therethrough and at least one circularopening therethrough all for receiving screws or the like for securingthe second hinge plate to the inside of the corresponding one of saidcabinet sidewalls; a first hinge arm; first means pivotally securing thefirst hinge arm to the first hinge plate near one end of each; secondmeans pivotally securing the opposite end of the first hinge arm to thesecond hinge plate; a second hinge arm; third means pivotally securingone end of the second hinge arm to the first hinge plate near theopposite end of the first hinge plate from said one end thereof; andfourth means pivotally securing the opposite end of the second hinge armto the second hinge plate;-all of said pivotally securing means havinggenerally parallel pivot axes generally parallel to the longitudinalaxes of said horizontally elongated openings and circular opening; meansdefining an opening through each sidewall of said bin, said openingbeing constructed and arranged to frame the respective second hingeplate irrespective of tilting of the bin, whereby the second hingeplates are accessible from interiorly of the bin for establishingsecurement of the second hinge plates to the cabinet opposed sidewallsand an elongated slide arm pivotally secured at one end thereof to saidfirst hinge plate; a slide; means securing said slide to the inside ofone of said cabinet sidewalls above said bin; and adjustable securementmeans securing said slide arm to said slide for mutual sliding movementfor tensioning tilting of said bin; said slide arm having means definingan elongated slot therethrough; said slide including a shank protrudingthrough said slot; and the adjustable securement means including a slidecover received on said shank and bearing against said slide arm, a coilspring having the base thereof abutting said side cover and a threadednut on said shank providing adjustable compression for said spring toregulate the ease with which said slide arm may be slid with respect tothe slide.

2. The cabinet of claim 1 wherein said shank abuts an end of said slotupon tilting out of said bin a predetermined amount, for positivelystopping further tilting out of said bin.

3. The cabinet of claim 1 wherein the first hinge arm extends betweenthe forward end of the first hinge plate and the upper rear region ofthe second hinge plate; wherein the second hinge arm extends between therearward end of the first hinge plate and the lower front region of thesecond hinge plate; and wherein the two horizontally elongated openingsthrough the second hinge plate are respectively located in the upperfront and lower rear regions of the second hinge plate; said at leastone circular opening comprising three circular openings arranged in atriangular pattern on the second hinge plate, and wherein said slide armone end is pivotally secured to said first hinge plate by said firstpivotally securing means.

1. A dropfront cabinet having dropfront and a tilting bin secured to therear face of said cabinet front so as to move therewith; said cabinetincluding opposed sidewalls defining a bin receiving opening betweenthem, said bin having opposed sidewalls, said bin being received in saidopening and being hinged to said both sidewalls by two hinges, onemounted on each of the bin opposed sidewalls; each of said hingecomprising: a first hinge plate having means thereon for securing thefirst hinge plate to the outside of one of said bin opposed sidewalls; asecond hinge plate having two horizontally and vertically spaced,horizontally elongated openings therethrough and at least one circularopening therethrough all for receiving screws or the like for securingthe second hinge plate to the inside of the corresponding one of saidcabinet sidewalls; a first hinge arm; first means pivotally securing thefirst hinge arm to the first hinge plate near one end of each; secondmeans pivotally securing the opposite end of the first hinge arm to thesecond hinge plate; a second hinge arm; third means pivotally securingone end of the second hinge arm to the first hinge plate near theopposite end of the first hinge plate from said one end thereof; andfourth means pivotally securing the opposite end of the second hinge armto the second hinge plate; all of said pivotally securing means havinggenerally parallel pivot axes generally parallel to the longitudinalaxes of said horizontally elongated openings and circular opening; meansdefining an opening through each sidewall of said bin, said openingbeing constructed and aRranged to frame the respective second hingeplate irrespective of tilting of the bin, whereby the second hingeplates are accessible from interiorly of the bin for establishingsecurement of the second hinge plates to the cabinet opposed sidewallsand an elongated slide arm pivotally secured at one end thereof to saidfirst hinge plate; a slide; means securing said slide to the inside ofone of said cabinet sidewalls above said bin; and adjustable securementmeans securing said slide arm to said slide for mutual sliding movementfor tensioning tilting of said bin; said slide arm having means definingan elongated slot therethrough; said slide including a shank protrudingthrough said slot; and the adjustable securement means including a slidecover received on said shank and bearing against said slide arm, a coilspring having the base thereof abutting said side cover and a threadednut on said shank providing adjustable compression for said spring toregulate the ease with which said slide arm may be slid with respect tothe slide.
 2. The cabinet of claim 1 wherein said shank abuts an end ofsaid slot upon tilting out of said bin a predetermined amount, forpositively stopping further tilting out of said bin.
 3. The cabinet ofclaim 1 wherein the first hinge arm extends between the forward end ofthe first hinge plate and the upper rear region of the second hingeplate; wherein the second hinge arm extends between the rearward end ofthe first hinge plate and the lower front region of the second hingeplate; and wherein the two horizontally elongated openings through thesecond hinge plate are respectively located in the upper front and lowerrear regions of the second hinge plate; said at least one circularopening comprising three circular openings arranged in a triangularpattern on the second hinge plate, and wherein said slide arm one end ispivotally secured to said first hinge plate by said first pivotallysecuring means.